I'm really excited about this schedule! It's a nice variety of topics, and I'm especially thrilled that I get to be on the Go Teen Writer! panel. I was a teen writer. I actually started Drift while I was technically still a teen (and then spent a long time writing other stuff, improving my craft, and figuring out how to revise the book so it worked). I'm excited to, hopefully, get a chance to tell other teens that they can do it! And end all my sentences in exclamation points!

I think the whole con is going to be a blast. I hope to see some of you there!

August 7, 2014

I know I usually do comparisons or make lists, but Catan Junior deserves an entire post to itself.

How well does this compare to Catan? The Catan we know and love? The Catan that can be recreated entirely out of cookies, cupcakes, or what-have-you?

It feels like Catan, not a random game with the name slapped on. It plays a lot like Catan. And I think the way it's scaled-down and simplified for kids is brilliant. Let's start at the top:

Components:Catan Junior has the quality and feel of a great Euro-style game. The colors are kid-friendly and bright, but also beautiful.

Unlike Catan, there aren't resource cards, but hefty, well-constructed resource tokens (which you can kinda see in the top of this picture). They're easy to handle. They feel nice. I like boardgames with fiddle-worthy pieces, and these live up. In a game where secrecy isn't paramount, I think this was a smart switch. We can work on holding cards and not flashing them to other players in a game with less going on (like Go Fish).